Hadid, LZ;
Chust, T;
Wahlund, J‐E;
Morooka, MW;
Roussos, E;
Witasse, O;
Rabia, J;
... Dougherty, MK; + view all
(2026)
Evidence of an Extended Alfvén Wing System at Enceladus: Cassini's Multi‐Instrument Observations.
Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics
, 131
(2)
, Article e2025JA034657. 10.1029/2025ja034657.
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Abstract
We report in situ evidence for Enceladus' Alfvén wing system and its coupling with Saturn's ionosphere, based on multi‐instrument observations from the Cassini spacecraft. Analysis of 36 events, including 13 from non‐flyby paths, confirms the existence of a Main Alfvén Wing (MAW) current system generated at Enceladus, and associated Reflected Alfvén Wings (RAWs) occurring both at Saturn's ionosphere and on the density gradient of Enceladus' plasma torus, extending longitudinally to at least (2,000 moon radii) downstream of the moon. Additionally, the observations reveal the systematic existence of a filamentation process of these large‐scale Alfvénic perturbations (MAW and RAWs) during their propagation at any distance from their source. These findings demonstrate a more extensive electrodynamic coupling than previously reported for Enceladus and more generally for any moon‐magnetosphere interaction. Moreover, the observation of energetic electron depletions and water‐group ion signatures at longitudes even further from the moon supports the interpretation of an extended and persistent interaction region. These results highlight Enceladus' role in shaping Saturn's magnetospheric environment and underscore the importance of future missions to exhaustively analyze this type of complex interaction between a moon and a planet.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Evidence of an Extended Alfvén Wing System at Enceladus: Cassini's Multi‐Instrument Observations |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1029/2025ja034657 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1029/2025ja034657 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © 2026. The Author(s). This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| Keywords: | Enceladus, Saturn, Alfvén-wing, electrodynamic coupling, icy moons, outer planets |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences > Dept of Space and Climate Physics |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10221542 |
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